February 20, 2006
How Old is Your Law Firm Partner Team?
While reminding members of the firm's mandatory retirement age, Mike Collins realized "there wasn’t a single partner in the group that could finish out the next 10 years …….I gave everybody 18 months to find their own replacement."
It is surprising how often we fail to see clearly or take stock of those who are around us every day. That goes for your partners. How long has it been since you took "partner" inventory. How old is each? How is the health of each? What plans for the future does each have? It would not be unusual for that inventory to show that the majority, or all, of the firm’s partners are in their mid-50s. Health issues are likely to have some partners leaving the firm earlier rather than later. And personal or family objectives of some partners may mean they are already planning for retirement.
The opening quote appeared in a February 2006 Nashville Business Journal article by Janel Watson. Mike Collins is the CEO of 2nd Generation Capital, LLC, a private investments firm. While 2nd Generation isn’t a law firm, it is a professional service firm, and Mike is one of my two brothers. Having completed its plan, 2nd Generation is now prepared for the future. It has the organizational depth to assure the long term continuity of the firm by transitioning leadership to the next generation.
For a law firm to have a life beyond that of its current partners, intentional and deliberate effort is required to transfer, in an orderly fashion, the leadership and ownership to the next generation of firm partners. If your partner team is already over 50, then you, like my brother Mike, have some catching up to do.
Morepartnerincome.com is sponsored by Juris, Inc. For information about Juris® products and services for increasing law firm performance and partner income, go to www.Juris.com.
Related posts
Filed under HR by Tom Collins